The Donald Trump administration is reportedly in talks with several U.S. quantum computing companies to take ownership stakes in exchange for federal funding.
US Eyes Equity In Next-Gen Computing Firms
Companies including IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS) are discussing agreements with the U.S. government that could see Washington become a shareholder in exchange for financial support, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Funding awards are expected to start at $10 million each. Other firms, such as Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT) and Atom Computing, are reportedly considering similar arrangements.
U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar, a former quantum-computing executive and Energy Department official, is spearheading the discussions, the report noted.
The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.
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US Government Secures Strategic Stakes In Intel And MP Materials
Earlier this year, the Trump government agreed to acquire nearly a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel by converting nearly $9 billion in previously awarded grants into equity.
Later in the month, MP Materials (NYSE:MP) announced a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense to strengthen America's supply of critical rare earth materials.
As part of the deal, the DoD gained a stake of roughly 15% of MP Materials' shares, potentially making it the company's largest shareholder. MP Materials runs the U.S.'s only fully integrated rare earth mining and processing facility.
Quantum Computing Moves Closer To Reality
Earlier this year, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) unveiled a new chip demonstrating that practical quantum computing may arrive in years rather than decades.
Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and IBM (NYSE:IBM) have also indicated that breakthroughs in the field are accelerating.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that QBTS exhibits robust price momentum across short, medium and long-term periods. More detailed performance insights are available here.
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